Timberwolves vs Rockets Predictions & Odds (Summer League, July 18)

• The Houston Rockets (2-1) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1) square off in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League action on Thursday night.
• First-round picks and former Kentucky teammates Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham will face off against one another for the first time in their budding pro careers.
• Check out the section below for our favorite picks from tonight’s Summer League action.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets square off tonight in NBA Summer League action in Las Vegas. With both squads currently sporting 2-1 records, this is a must-win for each team’s tournament hopes. Even improving to 3-1 might not be enough to be in the top 4, however. Still, this should be a great game featuring a pair of former Kentucky teammates in Houston’s Reed Sheppard and Minnesota’s Rob Dillingham. Tune in to ESPN tonight at 11 p.m. ET to find out who wins.

Timberwolves vs Rockets Picks

• Rockets Moneyline (-125)
• Rob Dillingham 15+ points (+110)

The Timberwolves have a couple of stars on their Summer League team in 2024 first-round picks Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr., but I like the depth of the Houston squad more. Reed Sheppard and Cam Whittmore should be motivated to put Monday’s awful shooting performances behind them. Sheppard shot 6-for-17 from the floor, while Whittmore was an abysmal 1-for-15. They’re both better than that. I think they come out strong tonight and carry the Rockets to a hard-fought victory.

Shannon is a volume scorer for the Timberwolves, but I like the value on Dillingham tonight. All he has to do is score 15+ points and you can have +110 odds via BetMGM. He’s had 4, 14 and 10 points in his 3 Summer League games thus far. But I think he’s ready to have his best game yet. I’ll take the + odds with a smile on my face.

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Timberwolves vs Rockets Odds

Odds via BetMGM as of Thursday, July 18. Sign up for BetMGM today using our exclusive promo code SBD1500 to claim a $1,500 first-bet offer.

This is expected to be a pretty close game that either side can win. This line started out favoring the Timberwolves, but the Rockets are now -1.5 favorites on BetMGM. You can get Minnesota +1.5 or Houston -1.5 for -110 odds. On the moneyline, the Rockets are -125 and Minnesota is at +105. The points total for tonight’s game is set at over/under 181.5, with slightly more juice on the over (-115). The under is currently available on BetMGM at -105.

Timberwolves and Rockets Summer League Performances

Both of these Western Conference squads enter this matchup with 2-1 records. The problem is that there are currently 5 teams with 3-0 records in Las Vegas. Those teams are the Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, LA Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors.

Tonight’s game is the last “regular-season” game for Houston and Minnesota. The top 4 teams after 4 games then advance to the semifinals on Sunday. Then the 2 winners of the semifinals advance to the final on Monday.

So even though the winner of this game will improve to 3-1, it might not be enough to get into the top 4. They’ll need some help from a couple of 3-0 teams losing. The winner will also need to win by as many points as possible to help its points differential, which is the tiebreaker for teams with similar records.

Here’s a look at the results for the Timberwolves so far in Las Vegas:

• Minnesota 81, New Orleans 74
• Minnesota 105, Indiana 94
• Philadelphia 92, Minnesota 90

And here are the results for the Rockets through 3 Summer League games:

• Rockets 99, Lakers 80
• Rockets 109, Wizards 91
• Pistons 87, Rockets 73

As you can see, the Rockets have played in 3 blowouts so far, while Minnesota has some close-game experience. We’ll see which team has the advantage tonight at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN.